A community is rallying together calling for change after the fatal drowning of a young girl in Chilliwack.
On Aug. 5, first responders were called to Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre for a four-year-old girl who had been pulled from a pond.
Bystanders did CPR on her but she died in the hospital.
A petition has been sparked online calling for the pond beside the centre to be filled in or for a fence to be put around it.
Jessica Macgillivray is a mother in the community and started the petition, which has gained more than 885 signatures.
"The pond is surrounded by hedges and invisible, to the naked eye,” says Macgillivray. "I am starting this petition as a mom who has not stopped crying, watching this tragedy unfold.”
She hopes the petition will create change.
"May this raise awareness in your name for the safety of other children in the future,” she says.
The pond is located outside the centre and many other parents voiced their concerns.
"This was an accident waiting to happen. Never have an open water area near where children play,” says Kim Horsting.
Another person says filling the pond with rocks is a good solution and that the pond is useless.
